


A man’s determination

by helia7



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:03:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5764144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helia7/pseuds/helia7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the expedition Emil is back in Sweden and misses his former teammates. He would do anything to meet his best friend again. Anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A man’s determination

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by Noodly Appendage

It was already getting light outside; he could tell it even with his eyelids closed. _Lalli must be back._ He sat up, opened his eyes, and saw the morning sunlight casting strange little shadows on the wooden wall. Ah… it was the middle of summer and he was back in his tiny room at the cleansers’ headquarters in the outskirts of Mora. And he was dreaming about the winter expedition. _Again_.

  
Pinned to the wall there was a small photograph– a memento of the happiest months of his life. Six people smiling in battered white uniforms – tired and triumphant. (To be precise, five people smiling and one gazing off into space.) In the middle stood Sigrun, his ever enthusiastic captain and mentor; on her right, Tuuri – filled with excitement. On Sigrun’s left was Mikkel, the old prankster with folded arms and half closed eyes. Behind him, the braided Icelander was holding the cat in one hand and waving like an idiot with the other. On the other side he saw himself – rather good hairdo, given the circumstances, he reassured himself every time he looked at the picture. And then there was Lalli.

  
Emil wiggled out of bed, picked up his towel and set off to the smelly common bathroom. It was crammed, like every morning; grumpy men washing their teeth still in pyjamas, others only sporting a small towel around their hips showing off their muscles; and over in the showers someone was singing annoyingly off key. Tuuri said they have their own small bathrooms in Keuruu – _Lalli has his own separate bathroom_ … He didn’t know why he felt the need to remember this unimportant bit of information, but he did. Maybe because he missed the scrawny Finn more than he could tell.

But if the Finns could have their own bathrooms, why not the best cleansers of the world? Why should he wait in a queue to get in a disgusting toilet cubicle, listening to the same dirty jokes every single morning, and why, oh why should he stand on tiptoes if he wanted to see himself in the mirror – just because an idiot of an architect assumed every Swede was tall like a troll?! Lalli would hate this too. Well, not the mirror, the crowd.

 

_What is he doing right now?_ He kept thinking of Lalli as he headed off to the canteen. The answer was easy: sleeping. He probably spent the night with scouting in his old, familiar forest and now he’s curled under the bed and having his odd dreams – something Emil couldn’t really understand. While in the Silent World, he liked to be there next to him and watch over his sleep. His _friend’s_ sleep. Because, this strange bond between them was friendship, wasn’t it?

One thing he did not miss was Mikkel’s porridge; even the thought of those suspicious looking, foul tasting grunges made his stomach turn. He had avoided porridge ever since, which proved to be rather hard, since that was the main part of every breakfast. In the canteen some of his fellow squad members had just finished their meals and suddenly stopped the vivid conversation as Emil approached their table.

“Look, our golden adventurer is here” one of them grinned at him “It’s a pity we’re in a hurry and can’t listen to the new chapter of your heroic deeds in abandoned cities today” he patted Emil’s shoulder as he rose from the table. “Enjoy your breakfast and don’t spill any food on yourself!”

“Git” Emil murmured and stared at him through narrow eyes – he tried to imitate Lalli’s annoyed glances that could intimidate even the bravest men, but instead of showing fear or remorse, his comrades burst into a fit of laughter.

_It’s so unfair!_ He faced grave dangers in the Silent World; he fought trolls and giants, and saw things no one could imagine! Sigrun said he was her right hand warrior and buddy and that he was a fine viking in the making; yet his fellow cleansers treated him the same as before, like he was an idiot. Why?!

He will show them. He will prove he’s a real man!

But maybe not today.

 

It was his day off; he planned to go to the city, visit his cousins (at least they were keen to hear his stories or play “trolls and scouts”). He also wanted to stop at the new pastry shop where they sold sweet biscuits slightly similar to the ones Mikkel made – Lalli’s favourites. Those cost a fortune though.

But first, he had to drop his report at the chief’s office. He was… well, he was _tricked_ to write the reports of his squad; their leader hated letters with a passion – just like Sigrun, only he was nowhere near as cool as her. _How could Tuuri like writing diaries and keeping records of everything?_ For him, every sentence was torture; he would rather stroll through troll infested buildings in Copenhagen than make up long paragraphs about painfully boring fence inspections.

The office of the secretary was empty, but through an open door he could see the bulky, grey-moustached chief commander discussing some important matter with his deputy, a tall, muscled woman sporting her hair in a braid. (A tiny, pathetic, unimpressive braid)

Emil put his report on the desk and was about to leave, when he caught a word from the conversation of his superiors.

“…to Keuruu.”

His heart skipped a beat.

“…we have our hands full, cannot spare any cleansers during summer, especially on such a short notice!” complained the commander.  
“But the security of the Keuruu – Pori waterway is in everybody’s interests. And please don’t forget, the Finns have always sent help immediately when we needed.” replied the deputy with a slight annoyance in her voice.  
“How could I forget those eerie scouts from last year… But fine. Who should we send over with Wednesday’s ship?”

Emil’s head was spinning; so there was a request from Finland, they needed cleansers for some task. In Keuruu. And surely there will be scouts on the mission, and maybe…

“Who should we send over, Emil Västerström?”

Emil startled. The commander’s eyes were on him. “Next time you’re eavesdropping, at least try to hide yourself!”

“I wasn’t… I’m sorry, I just...“ Emil stammered. “Please, let me go to Finland!”

The commander raised his eyebrows and took a few steps closer to the door. “Why are you so keen to volunteer for this trouble?”

Emil gulped. “I… I have friends there, and one is a scout, so…”

“Ah, yes, I remember now, you had a Finnish scout on that idiotic expedition of yours. Those guys are weird –”

“He’s not weird! Or, maybe… kind of… but he really is… Please, include me in the team! I would do anything to go to Finland!”

“Anything?”

“Uhm… yes. I suppose.”

There was a twinkle in the commander’s eyes, a little smirk under the imposing moustache, but Emil had no time to contemplate the meaning of it; this was his great chance, his unrepeatable opportunity to see his friend again. And he will not miss it.

“Hmmm, you live in block C, don’t you?” the commander asked. “ I hear the bathroom is infamously dirty there, so if you want to show your determination…”

“What?! You mean… “

“Yes, clean the bathroom.”

Emil felt the blood run out of his face. No way. He wouldn’t… he couldn’t scrub all that muck. The chief commander couldn’t be serious about this. “That’s… I… no… alone… day off… and what has the bathroom to do with the cleanser’s job?”

The commander sighed. “Hmmm. I was under the impression you wanted to prove you’re worthy of being part of such an important mission. But if you are not that resolved…”

“I…” Emil bit his lip. He had to do this; even if it was way beyond him. _I want to meet Lalli._ There was nothing he ever wished so badly. He shouldn’t let this opportunity pass, and if the only way to achieve his dream was through a stinking bathroom… then he must be a man and grab the toilet brush. He sighed, then nodded.

***

  
He was exhausted. His hands were dry and they were hurting; his hair fell sloppily into his face and smelled of a mixture of soil and detergent. He skipped lunch and now his stomach growled with hunger, but the work was finally done. Looking at the white tiles, clean toilet bowls and shining mirrors, he felt a strange, unfamiliar satisfaction.

Though the cleanser’s base was almost empty now, Emil had no illusions; he knew well enough how fast news was spread. _I’ll be a laughingstock by the end of the day._ But this was his ticket to Keuruu, and that was all that mattered.

  
He knocked on the door of the chief commander and entered. “I’m ready! The bathroom is sparkling!”

He was kind of proud of himself and waited for the praising words and the confirmation of his participation in the mission. The commander beamed at him and after a few seconds burst out laughing. Emil blinked; this was not the reaction he expected.

“You’re such a fool! Such a big fool!”

Why? Emil was confused, but the commander was shaking with laughter for minutes until he was able to talk.  
“Actually, the only cleanser I was sure to send to Finland was you, Emil.” he said finally. “But I’m positive that your fellow cleansers in block ‘C’ will be grateful for your efforts though.”

“What? But… but…”

Slowly it sunk in.

_He fooled me._

Emil gasped for breath; his cheeks started to burn and wished he could vanish from Earth right now. _Why does everybody take me an idiot?!_ This… this was so humiliating! It was worse than the time when Mikkel convinced him that he got face cancer, and his other prank, and the one on their way back home; but that was a cheeky Dane and this was his boss, the head of the famous Swedish cleansers!

He touched his hair in his embarrassment, but it was sticky and miserable. _I’m not only a complete fool, but an ugly one too._ He couldn’t say a word, or even look at the commander’s face, and had absolutely no idea what to do now. His gaze was wandering over the papers on the large, mighty desk.

And there it was, an official looking letter stamped with the bear of the Finnish Army; but clipped to it was a small, hand-written message. It was hard to read the messy words upside down, but he tried.

“Please include cleanser Emil Väster… something – this is a personal request of one of our scouts. Thanks.”

Emil read it again. And again. Slowly his frustration started to evaporate and a different, more pleasant feeling took over. _Lalli. He misses me too._

“Um… is this all? Can I go now?” he looked up. The commander still had that nasty grin on his face, but Emil didn’t care.

“Yes, yes. You are expected tomorrow at eight for a briefing. But you’re free now.”

 

Emil turned around and, without saying goodbye or looking back, marched out of the room. He was ashamed of his stupidity, but oh well… Every single cleanser will giggle by the mention of his name for years now, and he might remain a fool for all his life, but he wouldn’t change for the entire world this happy little feeling of _having a friend_.

He doubled his steps, and as soon as he was out of the building, started to run. It was already in the afternoon and he had no time to waste; he needed to get to the pastry shop before it closed and buy those sweet biscuits. All of them.


End file.
